Operation Schuster Line

The 'Schuster Line' ('Schuster-Linn' in Luxembourgeois) was a line of barriers and barricades erected by the Luxembourg government along its borders with Germany and France shortly before World War II. The line was named after Joseph Schuster, Luxembourg’s chief engineer of bridges and highways, who was responsible for its construction.

The 'Schuster Line' comprised 41 sets of concrete blocks and iron gates, 18 bridgeblocks on the border with Germany and five roadblocks on the border with French border. The roadblocks were constructed about 1,640 yards (1500 m) behind the frontiers in a zigzag pattern, covered by barbed wire entanglements on either side. Nine radio outposts were erected along the German border, with a central receiving station in the St Espirit barracks in the capital.

The line failed to impose any significant delay on the German advance during the invasion of Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. The iron gates were knocked down and ramps were built over the concrete blockades so that vehicles could drive over them; some were blown up.